Rocking grid girls1:19

Podium girls were certainly present when Latvia's Toms Skujins celebrated on the podium on July 12. Picture: AFP/Marco BertorelloSource:AFP

THE Tour de France was planning to ban the use of podium girls by July — but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Organisers of the tour held talks in March about ditching the longstanding but controversial tradition of having models present awards and shower winners with kisses after each stage of the race.

It was reported that Tour de France was preparing to end the tradition by this year’s tour which began in Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile on July 7. It would have seen the tour become the second major cycling race to end the use of podium girls.

However, the girls have been on hand to celebrate with stage winners over the past week.

Sports website Bicylcing.com was unimpressed.

“As we’ve seen after the first five stages of this year’s Tour, podium girls are still out there flanking the victors, handing out prizes, and planting kisses,” it reported.

“We’d say we’re angry, but we’re not new to the sport. Mostly we’re just disappointed.”

Formula One quickly followed suit, announcing it too would not have the girls in the upcoming 2018 season.

According to The Sun, that announcement was welcomed by equality groups as a step forward, although others claimed it was denying females the choice and opportunity to work.

Bicylcing.com reported that “it’s not a great look for a sport (cycling) grappling with issues of gender equality.”

“And as a growing chorus of critics complain that podium girls reinforce a sexist culture that reduces women in cycling to their looks and harms the experiences of female competitors and fans, more and more races have done away with the practice.”